Working Paper

Abstract

The author presents the results of a randomized pair-email correspondence audit of 6,490 property owners in 94 U.S. cities to provide a nationally-representative estimate of the level of discrimination that same-sex couples experience when inquiring about rental housing. He finds that same-sex male couples, especially non-White same-sex male couples, are less likely to receive a response to inquiries about rental units. He also finds that same-sex male Black couples are subject to more subtle forms of discrimination than heterosexual Black couples. The author also examines if state and local anti-discrimination laws covary with rates of housing discrimination against same-sex couples. While his results are not causal, he finds that anti-discrimination laws have an ambiguous relationship with rates of discrimination faced by same-sex couples. State-level housing protections, for example, covary positively with response rates (state laws appear to correlate with less discrimination) for same-sex Black male couples. However, local-level laws covary negatively with response rates for same-sex Black male couples.